Confidence Grows

Hays identifies positives in Singapore.

Asia Pacific

The 2018 Hays Asia Salary Guide has found business confidence in Singapore is growing. Overall, the company says 68 per cent of organisations expecting business activity to increase in 2018. The report is based on responses from more than 3,000 employers across Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.

In addition, 57 per cent of those surveyed also saw an increase in business activity in the last 12 months. Optimism is growing about the expected performance of Singapore’s economy in 2018 with 28 per cent of employers expecting the economy to strengthen further in 2018. This is an increase of 17 per cent from what was previously reported and highlights a growing optimism that all major engines of growth in Singapore’s business and economic landscapes are synchronised in an upward trajectory.

However, despite the positive feel good factor in the country, employers will remain cautious when it comes to increasing headcount with only 14 per cent intending to do so in 2018 vs the 41 per cent who did in 2017.

Salary increases will also be moderate in 2018 with 49 per cent planning to offer salary increases from between 3-6 per cent, three per cent up from the actual reported in 2017. 14 per cent of employers in 2018 plan to offer salary increases of more than 6 per cent in the year ahead.

“The economic outlook for Singapore is very positive, but our research shows employers will take a conservative approach to both permanent hiring and salaries in 2018 to make the most of these conditions,” said Lynne Roeder, managing director of Hays Singapore. “Although most companies in Singapore plan to award only modest salary increases during their next review period, we do expect to see significant increases for candidates with niche skills moving jobs as well as those with skills in short supply in 2018,” said Lynne.

Roeder believes the scenario present challenging conditions for candidates. Those staying in a job are likely to see only modest salary increases while those changing employers have a better chance of securing a higher salary, but there are likely to be fewer new jobs coming to market.

“Candidates must do their research on what is happening in their sector to assess how much power they have in the market in 2018 and whether they need to do more to develop the skills in greatest demand,” said Lynne.

A preoccupying worry for many employers in Singapore is the continuing skills shortages issue in the country that is also a prevailing theme across the Asia region. Down two per cent from last year, 94 per cent of employers believe that skills shortages (without doubt or will be some impact) will hamper the effective operations of their businesses.

Areas of greatest skill shortages

In Singapore, employers reported that the top five hardest roles to recruit for are: